


Just In Time

by rememberthismoment



Category: The Rookie (TV 2018)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:35:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23224882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rememberthismoment/pseuds/rememberthismoment
Summary: Call it womens intuition, or a gut feeling, but between Tim running late, Angela's nervous, bouncing leg in the car and the emptiness of a normally lively winery on a Friday night, Lucy sensed that there were a lot of people that weren't telling her a lot of things.
Relationships: Tim Bradford/Lucy Chen
Comments: 9
Kudos: 150





	Just In Time

**Author's Note:**

> The song is She by Jake Scott if you want to listen.
> 
> Happy reading!

Lucy Chen would just like to make it known that in the year and a half she had dated Tim Bradford, he had always made it a point to be ten to fifteen minutes early or directly on time.

For their first date, he told her he would pick her up at 7. Yet he was knocking at her apartment door at 6:45 that evening, and had to manage awkward conversation with Jackson on their living room couch while she put the final curls in her hair.

_"Would you like something to drink, Seargant?" Lucy bit back her laughter as she sat in front of her full length mirror, her hair wrapped around the barrel of her curling iron. "We have water, orange juice, beer..." Jackson stopped himself short there. "Well, not that you would drink and drive, because that would be..."_

_"I'm good, Jackson," Tim abruptly cut him off, his voice clipped, "Just call me Tim. You're making this weird."_

_"Sorry sir," Tim fixed him with a look, "I mean, Tim."_

Lucy still wondered if it was purely coincidental that Tim waited outside in his truck for her the few dates after that. She wouldn't have blamed him if it wasn't.

Once they moved in together, he was always the one pacing their bedroom floor, waiting. He groaned at her and constantly checked his watch while Kojo scratched at the bathroom door as she slid the last few bobby pins in her hair or put the final touches on her makeup. He was never amused when she opened up the door with a cheeky grin, and teased him that she was ready to go when he was.

Tonight though, he was late. It was the one night she needed him to actually be on time, and here she was twiddling her thumbs and waiting for him to show up. If part of her wasn't just a tinge worried for his safety and wellbeing, she would probably be trying to find a way to put this in the Guinness Book of World Records.

"Timothy Ray Bradford," she had resorted to his full name, her phone tucked between her ear and shoulder as she did another once over in the mirror. "I swear, your ass better be walking through this door in 5 minutes with a good excuse." She smoothed out the white cotton fabric of her dress for what seemed to be the twentieth time. "Okay, bye, love you!"

She hung up and feverishly sent a text to Jackson, giving him a heads up that they might be running late.

He was going to kill her. His 30 minute time slot for open mic night at The Mill began at 9 o'clock, and she was supposed to be there 5 minutes before hand to pep talk him. The plan was for Tim to be back home by 8:30 to pick her up so that they could be rolling into the venue by 8:55. Given that it was now 8:27, their plans seemed to start slowly spinning towards the drain.

Her phone buzzed in her hand and she glanced down to see Tim's name at the top of her screen. When she picked it up, he was already apologizing profusely.

"Listen, I am leaving the station now. I got buried in paperwork. I sent Lopez to pick you up on her way there. She left fifteen minutes ago."

Lucy rolled her eyes and scrambled her way out of the bathroom to find her purse, unplugging her curling iron and putting her hairspray back into the cabinet along the way.

"I could have just called an uber or took my own car, Tim."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, you can leave her a tip, Luce."

She snorted at that. "Okay, okay. Touché." The doorbell then rang, and Kojo started barking from the backyard, making Lucy aware of both Angela's appearance and the fact that she still had to put Kojo in his crate before she left. "I gotta go, babe. I will see you at the venue!"

She hung up before he could say anything else in return and made her way down the hall and to the front door, the thick heels on her brown leather booties making clacking noises against the hardwood floor. Kojo's paws began to scratch at the backdoor. If Tim were here, he would chide him for it.

"Hey Angela," Lucy quickly greeted, swinging the front door open. She left it ajar and began to quickly run to the backdoor to let Kojo in. "I would hug you but I still have to crate Kojo before we leave, and he is about to beat the door down."

Angela's laugh echoed through their house as she stepped into the entry way and shut the door behind her. She surveyed all of the new touches of color and small knick knacks Lucy had brought into the place with her move-in a couple of months ago while Lucy managed Kojo at the backdoor.

"Kojo sit! Good boy!" The treat bag rustled around as Lucy grabbed a few milk bones from inside. Tim would say she was spoiling him and ruining his food regimen, but according to Lucy, a little bribery never hurt every once in a while and regimens were for losers. "Now follow!"

The dogs paws plodded along the floor, right in step with Lucy's feet as she led him to his crate in their bedroom.

"Time to go to bed, Kojo," she cooed opening up the wired door to his crate. He begrudgingly stepped inside and plopped down onto his bed with a huff. She placed the milk bones in front of him to assuage him, and set the locks in place on the door. "We'll be back soon!"

\------

The ride to the venue was fairly normal. Quiet yet comfortable as one of Angela's Spotify playlists crooned softly through the speakers. Lucy, however, did take note of Angela's left leg nervously bouncing up and down and found that a bit odd. In the time that Lucy had known her, Angela didn't seem to be stirred up by much.

"Are you okay?" Lucy asked, closing out of her texting conversation with Tim over his whereabouts. Angela looked over at her, and her mauve lips contorted into a half grin. Her over eager nod towards her question didn't seem to soothe Lucy much, and she felt an uneasiness settle in the pit of her stomach. "You sure?" This time, her words came out a little slower. "Look, I know you and I aren't like besties for the resties like you and Tim are, but you can still talk-"

Angela cut her off before she could prod any further. "Lucy, I am fine!"

Right. Fine. Everything was fine. Lucy sunk back into the passenger seat, and spent the rest of the ride checking the time and staring out the window. She sent updates to Jackson on where they were, and kept opening her messages to Tim, thinking maybe she had missed a reply. Angela's leg was still bouncing. She could see it out of the corner of her eye, but she willed herself to not overthink it.

"We're here!" Angela chirped as she whipped her car into a parking space, a small crack in her voice. Lucy checked the time on her phone, 8:57, and then glanced up at the parking lot of the small winery, observing the scarce amount of cars that dotted the parking lot.

"Huh," she muttered, unbuckling her seatbelt and grabbing her purse from the floorboard of Angela's car, "slow Friday night. Poor Jackson! He has been looking forward to playing here for weeks."

"Yeah," Angela agreed halfheartedly. "Look, I gotta make a call to Wes. Why don't you go ahead without me! I will be there in a second."

Lucy nodded, and pushed open the door of the car. As she walked toward the venue, the loose gravel crunching beneath her feet, she noticed that things seemed to be fairly quiet and still from the inside and outside of the venue. Call it womens intuition, or a gut feeling, but between Tim running late, Angela's nervous, bouncing leg in the car and the emptiness of a normally lively winery on a Friday night, Lucy sensed that there were a lot of people that weren't telling her a lot of things.

"Hey Lucy," the feminine voice knocked her out of her reverie and Lucy looked up at the source. Nyla Harper was standing at the door of the entrance, a lilac purple envelope tucked into her hand.

Lilac. Her favorite color. The tiny detail didn't go unnoticed.

"Hey Nyla!" Lucy continued up the front steps of the porch and greeted Nyla with a smile and a hug. "I am guessing you know what all of this is about?"

Lucy waved her arm up in the air, gesturing to the empty winery. Nyla nodded, and reached out to pass the envelope on to Lucy.

"This is for you," Lucy pulled it from her grasp, and began to tear through the seal. Nyla stepped off the front porch, leaving her to be alone with the note.

**6/23/23**  
**The first day of the rest of OUR lives.**

Lucy's breath caught in her throat. Her right hand went up to cover her mouth and her left hand fell to her side, the paper dangling between her fingertips. The butterflies bloomed in the pit of her stomach.

Nothing about all of this was coincidental. It was an intricate plan for her. For them.

One of her shaky hands held on to the paper and envelope, while the other hand grabbed the steel of the door handle to pull it open. The cool air fell over her buzzing, warm body once inside. The host at the front counter gave her a soft smile, and pointed her towards the reserved room only. Lucy nodded in thanks, and followed direction.

As she approached the double doors, she saw him standing there in the middle of the room through the intricately designed wrought iron on the windows. His right hand was shoved deep into the front pocket of his dark washed skinny jeans, and he was nervously rubbing his neck with his left. She then took note of Jackson, standing on the stage, a guitar strapped across the front of his body. He caught her eyes through the door, and gave her a nod and a wink, like it was some sort of unspoken permission for her to come in.

She pulled the iron door open, and the sudden movement caused Tim to look up. The opening chords of a song sounded from Jackson's acoustic guitar. Lucy recognized them immediately. It was her song.

_She's the light in a dark room. She smiles with her eyes, it'll hold you. In a moment you'll know you'll never walk away. She's never been one to hold back. If there's something on her mind you're gonna know that, and you're gonna wanna listen to everything she'll say._

He smiled, and her breath seemed to leave her body for a moment as she stepped further into the room. This was it. She was walking towards the rest of their life. In sickness and in health. For richer or for poorer. 'Til death do us part. He was it for her. He was home. He was the whole damn thing.

"Dance with me," he murmered, his voice soft. He pulled the envelope and paper from her grasp and set it on the floor behind him before offering her his hand. She took his out stretched hand and let him pull her in close; her head against his chest, one hand intertwined with hers, while the other one secured her around the waist. They swayed back and forth to the music, one ear of hers listening to the rapid beating of his heart while the other one tapped into the words of the song.

_She's a bullet that's about to fire. She's the steady that'll keep you sane. If loves a fool then I'm a liar. I know she's the only way._

"You're a bad liar," she teased, playing off the words of the song. His lips emitted a melodic, deep laughter, and she felt his chest move up and down against her cheek. "Buried in paperwork my ass."

"It got you here. That's all I needed."

"Uh-huh."

_She sees colors that I don’t see and she knows me even when I don’t. She knows where she goes I will go because I’m home._

His arm loosened the grip it had around her, and his fingers ghosted over her waist line as he began to move them toward her hand that was resting on the right side of his chest. Her body then became hyperaware of the small distance he was putting between them, and her ears took note of the fact that Jackson was no longer singing. It was just the chords of the guitar.

"Luce," she didn't miss the way his voice hitched when he said her name. It caused her chest to swell with her own emotion, and tears to pool at her lower lash lines. "You are home to me. You are my safety net. You are the color in my sometimes black and white world. You believe in me. You see the good in me when I can't see it in myself and you have never been afraid to call me out when I am being an ass. I am a better man because you love me fearlessly and wholeheartedly. You deserve the world, and I want to spend the rest of my life giving you all of it and more."

She swore that it wasn't until he was down on one knee, ring box pulled out of his back pocket, and eyes glistening up at her that it all fell into place. That it was all so real.

For a moment she just wanted to stare at him exactly like that. She never wanted to forget him in this moment. Every heart break in her past that had scarred her, every tear she had cried, every time she felt completely alone, it was all worth it just to hear him say,

"Lucy Chen, will you marry me?"

And she didn't even hesitate when she said yes. She barely let him finish the question.

Lucy soon-to-be Bradford wanted to make it known that Tim Bradford showed up in her life at just the right time, not ten or fifteen minutes early and certainly never late. Against what seemed to be a lot of odds, they found each other and they were never letting go.


End file.
